June 2022 Newsletter
Chairman’s Corner
Grants Success
Over recent years our Club has been very successful with grant applications. Grants have funded solar panels on the roof, the irrigation system, new shades on Greens 1 & 2, new greens furniture and new small bowls for learners.
Now, thanks again to the efforts of Arnold Green, the Club has received a grant for new aluminium seats for Green 3. These will replace the wooden ones which needed frequent painting. Hopefully these will be installed within the next few weeks.
Proposed Disabled Toilet
For this to become a reality, the Club will require a substantial grant. Applications for such grants always a require a Development Application. Anyone who has been though the DA process will know it is not straightforward.
Gary Forster has been working his way through the minefield of structural engineering and bush fire risk reports demanded by the Council.
Hopefully by the time the DA is granted, governments are still making community grants.
Brian Dowsett
Brian celebrated his 71st birthday on Wednesday 15 June.
With Brian having some health issues of late, we have come to realise just how much he contributes to the smooth operation of the Club.
Not only is he a greenkeeper but he is also barman, cellarman, purchasing officer, bookkeeper, security officer, contractor manager, cleaner, odd job man, and caretaker. He also takes out the garbage.
The good news is Brian is on the road to recovery and will gradually resume most of his regular duties.
I would like to thank Liz Hollister for stepping into the breach and picking up many of these tasks.
Liz has also assisted Brian taking him to and from hospital and generally looking after his welfare.
We are very fortunate to have these wonderful people at our Club.
Everyone knows that it is very difficult to find good new staff in hospitality these days; here’s proof!
Cold Room
The work on the cold room mentioned last month, is now complete with a brand new concrete floor.
Roger Parks
Chairman
From the Women’s President
Thank you to Marlene Black for again organising a fun game of “Spider” to celebrate the Queen’s Birthday Long Weekend.
As shown below, the biggest challenge was trying to find your own bowl in the meandering group of members.
Can you spot:
1. the one disgruntled member.
2. the one member who was looking quite pleased in being one of the first to find her bowl.
3. the two who decided to have a chat instead of locating their bowls.
The aftermath of the Spider!
Women’s Singles & Pairs are progressing well and on schedule.
Our ladies are looking forward to holding the Lindfield Shield in a few weeks and, having entered our teams in the 2022-2023 District Pennants Competitions, our Selectors are now challenged with the task of picking the players for the teams in Division 1, Division 4, and the Fives competition.
Great to see several of our newer members attending our Social Bowls on a regular basis.
Lorraine Forster
Women’s President
A Word from the Editor
This month we introduce a new feature to our Newsletter under the banner:
“Know Your Fellow Bowlers”
This column is intended to be a regular but occasional series (i.e. it will appear from time to time rather than necessarily every month) in which you will find a limited but informative profile of some of our members. We are a very diverse group, with a wide range of backgrounds and life stories. Although most of us know a bit about a few of our fellow bowlers, few of us know the full gamut of talent and life experience that we host within Lindfield Rollers. This column is intended to correct that deficiency.
To begin the series, we get to know a little better two of our most admired and respected members, Ron and Betty Gee Kee. I hope you enjoy reading about them.
Garry Lowder
newsletter@lindfieldrollers.com.au
Notices of Meetings to Club Members
In February 2022 the Corporations Amendments (Meetings and Documents) Act 2022 came into effect.
Essentially this allows the Club to send out all Notices of Meetings via electronic means, which the Club for the most part already does. Members who wish to receive notifications by mail must now OPT IN to receive them in that format. For Members who currently receive notifications via electronic means and who wish to continue doing so, no action is required.
Full details for these changes and how to apply for receipt of Notification by Mail are available here.
Know Your Fellow Bowlers
RON AND BETTY GEE KEE
Ron and Betty Gee Kee are both Queenslanders by birth. Ron was born 98 years ago in Innisfail; Betty was born a few years later in the southern Queensland town of Stanthorpe. Betty grew up in Ballina, in northern New South Wales, where her family ran a general merchant store, selling everything from drapery and mercery to homewares and groceries. They even supplied animal fodder and horse shoes in all sizes, with nails! Betty is also musically trained, with an AMusA in violin.
Like many kids from small towns in northern and western Queensland, Ron was sent to boarding school in Charters Towers. In its heyday this former (and later reborn) gold mining town boasted a pub on every corner, but by Ron’s time there it had become, and remains, a notable education centre.
When the Japanese started bombing Darwin in 1942 most of Australia’s troops were fighting in Europe and Ron was still at school. There was widespread speculation that those men, 18 and up still in Australia, would be subject to conscription into the army and sent to fight the Japanese in New Guinea. Ron was not too keen on that idea so, early in 1943, he joined the Royal Australian Navy and was trained as a coder in Melbourne.
As the Japanese advanced rapidly towards Australia, and the outlook for this country was dire, Ron was one of those brave young men sent, ironically for him, to New Guinea to help halt the enemy advance. From Melbourne he travelled by train all the way to Townsville, then with the cooperation of the Air Force and the Navy, he was flown in a Catalina from Townsville to Port Moresby and on to Milne Bay, which was the biggest communications centre in the South Pacific theatre. For nine months he endured frequent Japanese air raids, which came mostly at night.
“The only entertainment for us was the occasional visiting live show or the regular pictures, which were advertised on the grapevine. We had to find our own way to see the pictures, either on foot or hitchhiking, and we had to take our own seats – a box!” he recalls. “The screen was a sheet hung between two coconut trees. When the air raid siren went off, all the lights went out and we scattered into the trees.” It was no wonder that few of those coconut trees had any tops, their crowns having been shredded by the incessant attacks. While in Milne Bay, Ron was sent into even greater danger at Madang, where, with the Japanese just a short distance away across the water in New Britain, he set up a new telegraph station. Fortunately, he managed to survive that exposure and eventually returned to Milne Bay and then to Australia.
Ron found himself at HMAS Kuttabul (Garden Island) in Sydney and it was while there that he first met Betty, briefly, at a charity ball in late 1943; she was still at school at that time. His next posting was to Brisbane, where he spent the best part of a year in General MacArthur’s Headquarters in the Brisbane AMP Building. It was while in Brisbane that, by chance, Ron again met Betty, who was there visiting relatives. Once again, duty called and Ron was sent to his final wartime posting in Darwin, from where he was ultimately de-mobbed and returned to Innisfail.
His courtship with Betty evolved slowly and was conducted mostly by mail, but finally, in 1948, Ron was able to marry his sweetheart. They have been married for a remarkable 74 years. The newlywed couple settled in Tully, another north Queensland town, where they bought a cane farm, together with Ron’s father. Cane farming is hard work at the best of times but Ron was unlucky enough to suffer four cyclones in four years, registering the highest rainfall in Australia in that fourth year. “The last cyclone virtually destroyed our crop,” he says, “and when we sent what was left of the cane to the mill it had lost all its sugar.” It was also the north Queensland climate that more or less put an end to Betty’s violin playing … when she opened the case one day her violin had fallen apart with the humidity.
The couple gave cane farming away and moved to Brisbane, where Ron worked in various jobs until, eventually, they moved to Sydney and lived in Lindfield and, later, Pymble. A man of many skills, Ron spent twenty years working for Containers Ltd in Smith Street, Chatswood. While Ron was engaged in these pursuits, Betty was focussed on their two daughters and her life was centred around them. They now have four grandchildren and eight great grandchildren.
Ever an adventurous couple, in retirement Ron and Betty bought a caravan and towed it behind their Holden right around Australia. Adventurous and sporty. Ron and Betty played golf at Ryde-Parramatta Golf Club for 45 years. Our own Gary and Lorraine Forster were members at the same club while Ron and Betty were there. The Gee Kees finally gave up on golf and took up bowls at Turramurra in 2007. In 2011 they started playing bowls at Roseville and moved to Lindfield Rollers with everyone else when Roseville closed.
When asked what advice would he give to his 21-year-old self, Ron replied,
“join an armed service (for discipline),
learn a trade (for security), and
marry someone like Betty.”
What’s been happening?
Club Administration and Operation
Liz Hollister recently completed a Club Secretary/Manager Course which enabled her to update her knowledge about the rules and regulations that apply to a club like ours. Liz came away with a large folder of documents that contain all the relevant information and this is available for perusal if desired. Much of what is in this folder is really more relevant to large commercially oriented clubs, with gaming, restaurants, etc., but some of the rules do apply to us. One change that you may soon notice is that the Club itself will become the liquor licensee as it is no longer necessary to name a person, in our case the Club Secretary, as holder of that licence.
As you are all aware, Brian Dowsett routinely assists Liz with operation of the bar. Brian has been absent from this role a bit of late due to health issues so we need a few volunteers to step and assist from time to time. Tasks where members can assist include:
Clearing and wiping tables;
Stacking the glass washer and storing glasses
Operating the cash register
Some members have started to help but we need to train up a few more. Members must hold an RSA certificate to operate the cash register for liquor sales.
One way in which all members can help is for us to pay our green fees as soon as possible after arrival at the club, rather than leaving it to a last minute rush just before play starts. Please also remember, card payment is much preferred over cash.
Competitions
The Club triples, Men’s Major Singles, Men’s Major Pairs, Women’s Major Singles and Women’s Major Pairs competitions are all progressing well. All of these are scheduled to be completed before mid-August, which is when the Men’s Pennants matches are due to commence. Competitions to come after the Pennants season are the Club Fours, Handicap Triples and Mixed Pairs.
The Minor Singles competition has been completed, with Ted Cook prevailing over Geoff Kopping in the final.
We had a side playing in the St Ives Tapner Tournament Jacobs Creek Invitational event on Monday, 16 May, unfortunately with mixed results. We also had a team entered in a turnaround triples carnival at Asquith on Saturday, 14 May.
We had a team play in the Harbord Open on the June long weekend … the greens were particularly challenging, running at times at over 19 seconds. Our team finished in the bottom half of the 32 teams playing but well away from the bottom.
Looking ahead …
As previously advised, the Super-Six Carnival, which was scheduled for Friday, 24 June, has had to be cancelled due to a clash of dates with the Bridge Club, who had a long-term booking for the clubhouse for that day.
We have entered a side in Neutral Bay’s Peter Russell Trophy on Saturday, 16 July. In a departure from their previous arrangements, this year’s event will be a two bowl triples, three game round robin competition and will be restricted to players Grade 4 to Grade 7.
Our Women are scheduled to hold their Lindfield Shield on Friday, 1 July.
We have scheduled a round of the Bridge Trophy against Forestville RSL for Saturday, 30 July. This will be used as a trial for the Men’s Pennant competition so the sides will comprise men only.
This year’s Men’s Pennant competition is somewhat abbreviated, compared with previous (pre-COVID) competitions. It commences on August 13th and runs for six successive Saturdays. We have entered one Division 3 side and one Division 4 side in this competition.
In the first half of next year there will be an Open Gender Pennant competition, with exact dates yet to be advised.
A Smile on Your Dial
Some Words of Wisdom
“The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits.” – Albert Einstein
“The surest sign that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe is that it has never tried to contact us.” – Bill Watterson
“How many people here have telekinetic powers? Raise my hand.” – Emo Philips
“At every party there are two kinds of people – those who want to go home and those who don’t. The trouble is, they are usually married to each other.” – Ann Landers
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Questions and Answers from CARP Forum
CARP - Canadian Association of Retired People
Q: Where can single men over the age of 70 find younger women who are interested in them?
A: Try a bookstore, under Fiction.
Q: What can a man do while his wife is going through menopause?
A: Keep busy. If you're handy with tools, you can finish the basement. When you're done, you will have a place to live.
Q: How can you increase the heart rate of your over-70 year-old husband?
A: Tell him you're pregnant.
Q: How can you avoid that terrible curse of the elderly wrinkles?
A: Take off your glasses.
Q: Seriously! What can I do for these crow's feet and all those wrinkles on my face?
A: Go braless. It will usually pull them out.
Q: Why should 70-plus year old people use valet parking?
A: Valets don't forget where they park your car
Q: Is it common for 70-plus year olds to have problems with short term memory storage?
A: Storing memory is not a problem. Retrieving it is the problem.
Q: As people age, do they sleep more soundly?
A: Yes, but usually in the afternoon.
Q: Where should 70-plus year olds look for eye glasses?
A: On their foreheads.
Q: What is the most common remark made by 70-plus year olds when they enter antique stores?
A: "Gosh, I remember these!"
***
An Airbus 380 is on its way across the Atlantic. It flies consistently at 800 km/h at 35,000 feet, when suddenly an air force FA-18 fighter plane appears alongside it.
The pilot of the fighter jet slows down, flies alongside the Airbus and greets the pilot of the passenger plane by radio: "Airbus, boring flight isn’t it? Now have a look here!"
He rolls his jet on its back, accelerates, breaks through the sound barrier, rises rapidly to a dizzying height, and then swoops down almost to sea level in a breath-taking dive. He loops back next to the Airbus and asks, "Well, how was that?"
The Airbus pilot answers: "Very impressive, but now you look!"
The jet pilot watches the Airbus, but nothing happens. It continues to fly stubbornly straight, with the same speed. After 15 minutes, the Airbus pilot radios, "Well, how was that?”
Confused, the jet pilot asks, "What did you do?"
The Airbus pilot laughs and says, "I got up, stretched my legs, walked to the back of the aircraft to use the washroom, then got a cup of coffee and a chocolate fudge pastry.
The moral of the story is:
When you are young, speed and adrenaline seem to be great. But as you get older and wiser, you learn that comfort and peace are more important.
This is called S.O.S.: Slower, Older, but Smarter.
Dedicated to all of us Seniors who are now realising that it is time to slow down and enjoy the rest of the trip.
Finally:
Did you know that dolphins are so smart that within a few weeks of captivity, they can train people to stand on the very edge of the pool and throw them fish?
